A Big Red Flag
by ManaTexture
Summary: She is strong! She is powerful! But... she isn't feared at all. Cinder Fall, a woman capable of leaving mountains of ashes in her fiery wake, is addicted to fast foods, attracted to shiny objects that had no use for her, and desperately wishes for people to pay attention to her. And she would use extreme measures to ensure her dreams are realized. "Mercury! Where's my super suit?"
1. Emerald

_The lady in red caught her red-handed._

_With nowhere to run in an alley, Emerald's options dwindled harshly. Illusions could only get so far with someone perceptive enough to see through it. Had she been more attentive to the people around her rather than the jeweler, running out scot-free with something to pay for a bit more food would have been easy._

_The worst case scenario was that thought never being fulfilled ever again._

_Had she spent more time practicing her Semblance, she could've made herself less obvious. She could've made things more hopeful for herself. She could've…_

_But "could've" was only a possibility- not a reality._

A lump formed in her throat as Emerald backed closer and closer to the wall, her eyes shakily locking with a big red flag. Her senses screamed for her to use her Semblance again, just by the small, but potential chance of her escaping. The logical side of her spoke otherwise, however- and leaving with her life very much intact was preferable.

Either way, she felt lost. And she was, because she had.

"How did you do that?"

Jumping at the woman's words, Emerald's eyes widened as she instinctively took a step closer to the wall behind her. Her eyes darted around, looking for anything and anywhere she could use to escape. Her effort fell in vain, as the stationary woman continued to stare at her.

The very presence of the woman told Emerald not to initiate an attack, but nevertheless, her dwindling options had to stop at some point. Preventing her body from showing a sign of weakness, she reached for her revolvers…

"Don't."

Well, of course. What did she expect?

_I might just die today,_ Emerald realized. The thought frightened her, the sunny weather doing nothing to prevent a chill from running down her spine. Acting submissive was the last thing she wanted to do, yet it proved to be a necessity.

It seemed like the woman had more to say, though she sealed her lips before they could open. Footsteps clattered past the alley as the two remained silent for a few seconds.

Her confidence drained at every ticking second. Mustering up the courage to glare at the confident, dark-haired woman, Emerald growled, "What do you want?"

At this, the lady smiled, walking forward.

"I've already told you," she spoke, her voice husky, yet devoid of any emotion Emerald could take note of. Yet, a sharp edge lay under her tone as she added, "And I don't like repeating myself."

_Crap. Crap, crap crap crap._

Her heart pounded faster as the woman stopped in the midst of her walk. Nothing could stop her from lashing out at Emerald at this distance. The thief already saw the lady in red chase after her, and from what she could tell, nothing would prove to be advantageous on her end.

"I didn't do anything, just leave me alone!" Emerald responded, almost feeling a need to lash out to make herself feel less useless in such a hopeless situation.

The lady in red clearly didn't buy it. A widening smirk on her face only proved it.

What a bright and lovely day- bright enough for Emerald to see that all of that terrible smirk.

"I know my fair share of liars and thieves," the unknown woman pointed out, keeping their distance from one another unchanging. "Stealing is an art of patience… coordination… and in a pinch, sleight of hand."

Amber eyes glowered as the stranger smiled. "But you didn't steal that ring in your pocket."

Yet again, she moved instinctively, her hands hovering over said pocket as she leaned away from the woman. Just how much did this woman know about her? Who even was she?

"You took it right before the jeweler's eyes- and he smiled."

And smile she did, too, as the lady in red crossed her arms.

Who was she…?

Just who?

If she was going to go down, Emerald would like to know her name, at the very least. She never considered names to be that important, especially when everyone essentially served as sources of pickpocketing- until now.

"Who are you?"

The golden question flew. It hung between them for quite a bit, with neither making a sound.

The footsteps had long vanished, and oddly, Emerald wished for them to return. At least she'd know what she would deal with unlike this unnerving woman.

Silence ruled the world, it seemed.

At that moment, however, Emerald temporarily forgot the reason she stole in the first place. Her heart pounded, but it always did, no matter how fast it would. Her eyes trembled, though at that point, Emerald knew she couldn't do much in the face of fear.

She knew all these things with the exception of remembering her sensitive stomach.

A loud growl came from her stomach.

…

…

…

A blush furiously crept its way into her cheeks as Emerald Sustrai ever-so-slightly lowered herself.

Raising an eyebrow, the lady in red's amber eyes trailed down and up the thief.

_Damn it, Emerald!_ She thought to herself as she struggled to meet the red lady's gaze any further. _Of all the ways to go, this is the absolute worst…_

"Hungry, aren't you?"

Stiffening, the thief glanced up, her eyes meeting an amber pair.

As a smile crept into her face, the lady in red placed her hands against her hips, watching Emerald intently.

"You may call me Cinder. And if you so wish it, I could treat you to a happy meal."

* * *

Emerald stared at the Happy Meal.

…

…

…

Glancing at Cinder's direction, the green-haired girl found the woman happily eating a Big Mac.

For the many times she passed through Vale's smaller districts, she didn't think someone with a first impression such as Cinder's would bring her to… somewhere she just ate a few days ago. Sure, it was a Happy Meal, just as Cinder promised, but…

Blinking at Emerald's lack of response to the food, Cinder raised an eyebrow as she swallowed her food before asking, "I thought you said you were hungry?"

"I-I never _said_ I was hungry!" Emerald retorted immediately, only to wilt at Cinder's stubborn confusion. She quickly added, "Thanks, though."

At this, a proud huff left Cinder as she closed her eyes. Emerald couldn't tell if it was Cinder being satisfied with her appreciation or the burger she chewed, though.

Only an hour ago, Emerald wondered if her life would end at the hands of this woman. Now, it seemed all but unlikely. It wasn't that she underestimated Cinder's strength- her Aura alone possessed a powerful presence.

Rather, it was the "personality" she might have overestimated.

"Hey, you could take some of my fries," Cinder pointed out. "Oh, but don't take two at once."

Leaning over the table a bit, Cinder smiled as if she shared some kind of great secret with the thief.

"That's a shorter path to chubbiness, you see."

"…How do you know?" Emerald asked, curious at the rather random detail.

"…"

Before a word left Cinder, she froze deathly still for a split moment. Emerald saw it- the panic that flashed across her whole face before she averted her gaze, heat invading the once intimidating woman's cheeks.

"It… comes from experience!"

_Whoa,_ Emerald stared at Cinder incredulously, with a small burger in hand. _She admitted it._

"Oh, but don't misunderstand. I _never_ looked any less beautiful than- Hey, what's with that look?!"

"S-Sorry!"

A flare of anger glowed within Cinder's amber eyes as she glared at Emerald. For a split moment, steam seeped from Cinder's burger.

It quickly died as the woman coughed, recollecting her composure. In Emerald's defense, Cinder seemed to lose her composure the very moment "happy meal" left her lips.

"Anyway," Cinder spoke after patting her lips with a napkin, "what do you say? Join me, and you'll never grow hungry again."

Ah, right.

That was the reason Cinder approached her in the first place. For whatever she saw in Emerald, the thief herself did not know. They neither met nor knew each other prior to Cinder cornering Emerald at the alley. Emerald did know, however, that despite the woman's rather less-than-intimidating attitude, Cinder had an incredible perception on Semblances.

Especially if she realized what Emerald's Semblance was at the blink of an eye…

A weight fell on Emerald's shoulders again once more.

Nothing. She knew nothing of Cinder aside from the fact that she was, in fact, powerful. And then again, Emerald herself had nothing aside from her own power. It was the only valuable thing about her- she knew that more than anyone, having lived enough to know its strengths and weaknesses.

Did she really want to live alone with no one to back her up?

The offer no longer felt tempting, but rather, a necessity.

_Anything's better than living like this,_ Emerald thought, her resolve growing.

Her body tenser than before, Emerald looked up from her food.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Cinder take two fries at once, sneakily plopping them into her mouth.

…

…

…

She pretended not to see that.

"C-Cinder?"

"Hm?"

And thus, Emerald decided.

If she were to confront the end of her own fate, she would do everything to avoid falling alone.

* * *

**A BIG RED FLAG**

* * *

A year had passed since their fateful encounter.

Sometimes, Emerald wondered if she made the right decision. Joining Cinder proved to be rather interesting, mostly because of Cinder herself. For one, she learned to fear anyone who showed any resemblance of unnatural intelligence. It was a gut feeling she improved upon after she became more active with Cinder's plans.

Emerald also learned to get along with a few people, actually. While getting along with Cinder was almost obviously a requirement, she didn't expect Mercury to be any better than he proved to be as a partner. The guy had a loud mouth and so much damn sarcasm to spare, but his skills and attitude did help out at times.

Since then, Emerald believed that she did, in fact, make the right decision.

"**EMERALD! MERCURY! ANYONE! SPIDER! KILL IT, KILL IT! EEEEEEEEEEEK!**"

But sometimes, Emerald wondered if dying alone would also have been a good idea...

Holding a book reading "Knowledge Through Subtle Power" by some random bum named Watts, Mercury stood in front of a corner in the room, his eyes locked onto a singular target. From Emerald's perspective, it looked like he simply practiced some kind of dumb circus stunt. It would have been funnier if Cinder wasn't frightened right out of her socks-

Okay, maybe that in itself made her chuckle the first time, but Cinder constantly screaming wasn't going to kill an admittedly large spider any sooner.

Erasing Cinder's ear-ringing screams from his consciousness, Mercury's eyes widened as he darted forward, leaning away from the wall as he approached it. With a mighty swing, he slammed the book expertly, his experience of using literature in unintended ways showing.

"Gotcha!" He yelled triumphantly. "Alright, Cinder, it's dead."

On the other side of the room, a bundle of blankets sat piled onto a bed. It took a few seconds for said blankets to start shuffling, revealing Cinder Fall- the woman who led Emerald and Mercury. Her face poked out between a small gap in the middle of the blankets.

When Mercury scraped off the spider into a nearby trashcan, Cinder awkwardly coughed before slipping out the bed. She still held the blankets, however, making her look like she donned some dumb blanket monster costume.

"G-Good work, Em-and-M," she mumbled, her voice steadily regaining its usual confidence. "I'll see to it that I reward you with something nice."

Emerald put up a thoughtful look, Mercury following suite. She then asked, "How does Chick-Fil-A sound?"

"Eh, not bad, Em," Mercury nodded. "CFA sound good to you, Cinder?"

"Oh, certainly," Cinder responded coolly. As cool as it sounded, however, the sudden glow of joy in her amber eyes at Emerald's suggestion could not hide itself.

* * *

It had been several days since they arrived at Vale. After Cinder's idea of robbing a Dust shop, which ended up picking up the remains of an actual robbery done by a certain cane-wielding man, the woman's yoyo-like ego inflated exponentially. Having slaughtered giant, viscous crabs in Vacuo for money in a ramshackle of a town, the idea of using combat to make money finally struck her after so many years despite her potential to bring down trained Huntsmen to their knees.

So they ended up staying at Vacuo for over six months straight.

_To her credit,_ Emerald glanced at Cinder, who took a bite out of her chicken burger, _once she sets her eyes on something, she really, really doesn't let go for awhile._

As for why the came to Vale, Cinder attempted to not tell them immediately for once. Mercury, however, came up with a rather simple theory. In fact, it was a theory that matched perfectly with Cinder's personality and their circumstances.

She got bored.

As soon as they exchanged crab meat with a passerby merchant for the umpteenth time, it showed on Cinder Fall's face. Ambitious she may be, Cinder Fall was not one to enjoy staying outside of comfortable cities and being denied of environments containing her favorite activities. Eating fast foods, checking clothes stores, visiting book stores…

Just the other day, Cinder encountered a video game store and bought a crappy handheld console only she seemed to enjoy.

"So, boss," Mercury asked as he plopped a single waffle fry in his mouth, "any plans for today?"

A smile formed on Cinder's face as she put down her soft drink.

"Well, actually," she spoke with a hint of excitement, "I think it's time I tell you why we are here."

At this, Emerald and Mercury glanced at each other before straightening themselves. As mundane as some of their plans often were, almost all of them were related with making money. Sure, Cinder seemed to have pockets of gold for no reason at all, but disappointing her was the last thing on their minds.

Happy with their gesture of attention, Cinder's smile widened a little. "This is by far my most ambitious plan yet, actually."

Leaning over, Cinder whispered.

…

…

…

"…Sorry, can you say that again?"

"Yeah, Em and I aren't dolphins, so we can't really hear-"

"Ahem!"

Clearing her voice, Cinder raised a hand, pretending to cough while hiding the small blush creeping in her cheeks. Raising her face back up to meet theirs, she repeated herself, this time louder than before.

"We're infiltrating Beacon Academy."

Emerald nodded, "Ah, okay."

"Gotcha, gotcha." Mercury, too, nodded.

…

…

…

"…Wait, _what_ academy?"

Crossing her arms, Cinder smugly repeated, "Beacon Academy. Prestigious academy for Huntsmen and Huntresses? Maybe you never heard of it before-"

Almost slamming her food against her tray, Emerald whispered loudly, "O-Of course I know what it is! But **why** are we going there? Haven't we been perfectly fine on our own? And I thought you said we were just visiting a smaller academy near Vale!"

Truthfully, there were several complex things Cinder tangled Emerald and Mercury into, but never on the level of something involving what could be compared to as an organization specializing in hunting the essence of evil itself. But slaying Grimm or not, getting associated with society that closely?

"Well, I never said _what_ academy it was, and I actually do have quite a handful of reasons to enter Beacon," Cinder smiled at the thought. "And I assure you, they will benefit you two quite well. Pulling this off means we might let ourselves indulge in something aside from delicacies. Perhaps power, and… foods better than fast food."

Amazingly, the latter sounded far more likely to be Cinder's goal rather than any of her former reasons.

One of her legs crossed the other as she stretched her arms. "For one, having intel that could lead up to blackmail material on the academy could be pretty handy for me. I heard there's some kind of treasure in the academy from one of- well, my only insider."

"And this 'insider' guy," Mercury asked curiously. "Is he really that trustworthy?"

At first, Cinder's smile grew wider. It quickly died, however, as the blazing fire in her eyes turned into a small ember.

"…Well, he's the only guy who helps me with my plans aside from you two, you know."

"Oh. Uh, right."

"With _that_ said," Cinder clapped her hands together as she leaned over to the two. "Don't you think it's nice? Making a bigger name for ourselves could lead to more money, you know."

_Which translates to "more burgers," _Emerald finished for Cinder. She dared not to say it out loud, however.

"What do you say? Isn't it a great idea?!"

Quite frankly, all they'd been doing was going around making money and eating whatever they wanted. While that in itself sounded like a good life on paper, with Cinder on the same page, it was anything but normal. Despite that, however, their current life was rather normal. Normal in Remnant was a rarity, with news of Grimm attacks always being a true danger outside any Kingdom's walls. The life Cinder offered both her and Mercury was a blessing in disguise, in a sense.

But if her ditsy- er, _clumsy_ boss so wished to try anything new, who was she to stop her?

"I don't see why it wouldn't," Emerald nodded with a small smile, "ma'am."

"Ditto," Mercury smirked.

Rather than express satisfaction, however, Cinder instead blushed and slammed a foot on the ground, glaring at Emerald.

"Don't call me 'ma'am!' It makes me sound ancient!"

_Oh. Oops._

As Cinder's blush faded, a sly smile quickly formed back on her face. "Ah, but I honestly can't wait. Our time to shine will be absolutely glorious. It'll be _super,_ if you ask me! I can already see it!"

And with that, she laughed out loud with her hand by her mouth in what could only be described as the "rich lady laugh." The three promptly got kicked out for making far too much of a scene.


	2. Mercury

_Blood._

_He'd seen it and was molded to spill it. His father would know- it was his idea to not give Mercury a chance at anything aside from following his line of work. A good assassin? Sure. But Mercury was sure that even the most half-assed of people wouldn't ever agree that his father was a suitable teacher._

_If beating one's own children and depriving them of their human rights was morally acceptable, his father must've been dad-of-the-year material._

_What began as a simple sparring match turned out to be a fateful day for Mercury. The day he smashed the fool's face in sealed his fate- he would walk the path of a murderer. Whether or not a line of assassination work would suit him, he had no idea, but Mercury ensured that he would be ready to live for himself._

_And no matter the cost, he would see to it that he'd have a taste of ambition._

Yet, here she stood.

A woman of dark hair and amber eyes, watching him from a rather close distance. Beside her stood a green-haired woman, who seemed far more wary of his presence. It couldn't be helped- he set a whole house on fire, and they were the only ones breathing in the area.

His legs ached as he took heavy breaths. Weakness was a sign that got people killed, but he had no choice in the matter. He had just finished wrapping bandages over his barely functioning legs. Fighting any further would undoubtedly get him killed.

"…What are you looking at?" Mercury growled, his vision threatening to blur out at any moment. The whole world spun, but he stood his ground.

The dark-haired woman, on the other hand, stared back at him, though she seemed rather calm compared to the clearly nervous green-haired one.

"Who are you?" The calm woman asked.

A soft laugh left him as he spat at said man's corpse. In Mercury's professional opinion, his dad looked much better off laying still than trying to strangle him to death.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Isn't that… Marcus Black?" the green-haired woman whispered audibly. Her surprise showed that she knew the corpse more than just by name. Great. That wasn't a bad thing at all for him, right?

"How did-"

"It's exactly what it looks like," Mercury swiftly interrupted, grunting as he staggered a step forward. Pain seared through his muscles and bones, as if something gnawed at his knees at every passing second. Just standing proved to be absolutely painful.

He hated every passing moment of it.

"Just tell me what the hell you want," he seethed. "My life? If it's his, you're a little too late."

"Actually…"

The calm woman took a few steps forward. Her gaze averting from the dead man, she turned to Mercury with a sultry smile. He froze as she approached… closer, and closer…

And by the time she stood right in front of him, she spoke with a dangerous tone,

"We just beat a world record at the arcade and went out on a walk to celebrate."

…

…

…

"I, uh… what?"

"Cinder," the green-haired woman sighed, shaking her head as if she had done this before. "Aren't we just lost right now? You said this was the way to Vale-"

Cheeks reddening at a dangerously fast pace, Cinder's eyes widened as she swung herself around at her partner's direction. "Hush, Emerald!" She cried, every ounce of her mysterious façade vanishing as she stomped a foot on the ground. "I swear I didn't think we'd get **THIS** lost, okay?!"

"Whatever you say."

As Cinder ruffled her hair in frustration and started mumbling about how insensitive Emerald was, the latter approached Mercury with a more relaxed look. Absolutely bewildered, he could only stare at Emerald as she crossed her arms, glancing between him and Cinder.

"Look. Mercury, right?" She asked, her eyes holding some concern. Perhaps for him, or the woman who kept rambling on about something. "You look like you went through some kind of hell, and Cinder's not really good at dealing with…"

Her eyes fell on the man who had yet to budge from the ground.

"…_that_ kind of stuff. So, maybe you're better off coming with us."

"Why should I?"

Emerald shrugged.

"I didn't say you have to decide right now," she added. "But regardless, you can't do anything with those legs of yours right now, right?"

Mercury's eyes darted between Emerald and Cinder.

It was then that he realized that he didn't know how to respond to Emerald at all.

Was it a gesture of kindness? It didn't seem to be genuine, but at the same time, Emerald seemed disinterested with the idea of manipulating him for any ulterior motives. Not that they'd get anything useful out of him with the utter mess of a condition he was in, but…

Maybe he'd know in due time.

* * *

**A BIG RED FLAG**

* * *

Twirling her Scroll, Cinder smirked as she watched her glowing fire keychain spin.

Mercury raised an eyebrow when she almost hit herself in the face with said keychain. Pretending like she expected it to get so close to her face, Cinder promptly resorted to taking a deep breath, sighing louder than she normally would.

"Are we there yet?"

"Cinder," Mercury pointed out instantly, "you do realize buses don't take a minute to get from one side of the city to the other, right?"

Pouting, the ash-haired woman glared at Mercury as she mumbled, "Of course, I know that. What am I, an idiot?"

_Yes-_

As tempting as it was, Mercury forced himself to end the thought. He had a habit of saying his thoughts out loud sometimes, and he wasn't going to risk making a big scene in the public bus.

They got quite a handful of things done for the day, actually. For one, since they were going to stay at Vale for quite some time, they were free to purchase whatever they felt like they'd need for the time being. Emerald didn't need much aside from a few Dust crystals, and the same went for himself. Cinder, on the other hand, bought a whole slew of Fire Dust and the very keychain dangling on her Scroll.

Another thing off their checklist was Cinder speaking with her only other "partner" aside from Emerald and himself. While he did find it odd she met the man at a prison, it was far from his or Emerald's business. According to Cinder, her partner knew how to get them into Beacon without anyone suspecting it.

Any red flags on that idea? Well, none that Mercury felt like finding. Even if it did turn out that Cinder got scammed or they were just wasting time in the end, he didn't feel like putting in any actual effort of finding anything out about it. He played the "loyal slacker" quite well, if he were to say so himself.

And the last thing they got done was inspecting their weapons at a local blacksmith. Nothing much happened there, aside from Cinder bumping into a young girl.

Well, bumping was putting it lightly, considering Cinder outright _crashed_ into her.

Thankfully, the young girl was terrifyingly polite and let it go easily. She did seem sensitive about her red cloak, but no damage done only meant the best of business, right?

With that said, the bus ride _was_ annoyingly boring. He hated waiting, just as much as the other two sitting to his left.

Vale wasn't special in the way many thought it to be. Some called it "unified," but he saw it as unoriginal. Culture? What culture? Some of the buildings looked like they came from two generations ago, and the architecture of some of the districts were outright archaic. Meanwhile, there were newer districts with glaringly stylized designs that contrasted heavily with the rest of the city. The entire Kingdom was essentially one giant mashed potato, and everyone was fine with it.

And he sort of understood why. If he didn't, he'd be taking one long mental dump all over it.

"Mercury?" Cinder's voice called next to him. "Mercury, what is this message supposed to be?"

Turning to Cinder, Mercury took her Scroll and read the e-mail she referred to.

A quick look made him roll his eyes as he deleted it immediately.

"Quick tip," Mercury pointed out, "we don't have automobile insurance. Just delete anything related to that."

"…I knew that."

Sheepishly taking the Scroll back, Cinder mumbled, "I was just testing you."

Next to Cinder sat Emerald, who slept in such a mundane way that she perfectly blended in with everyone around them. In fact, the only person who didn't fit in the bus's calm air was Cinder herself.

Cinder Fall held her Scroll up, pointing its camera at herself. She blinked, awkwardly moving around the Scroll with two hands as she attempted to find a good angle of herself.

If Mercury were to be honest, Cinder was drop dead gorgeous. Fair skin, amber eyes and sultry lips, on top of one heck of a bod? She easily exceeded that of a supermodel's looks. If they weren't insane, any man or woman would admit she looked beautiful. He'd seen his fair share of hot chicks, but few barely rivaled with Cinder.

Yet, Cinder Fall was the only person who managed to have his respect while also being one of the weirdest person he'd ever met.

"Mercury, what does this button do again?"

Glancing at her Scroll, Mercury squinted.

"It makes your phone flash before taking a picture," he answered instantly. "It's broad daylight, so you probably don't have to-"

"No! The less shadows on my face, the better!"

And with that, Cinder snapped a picture of herself, blinding her own eyes as she let out a yelp.

"**OW**! What just-…?! Owwww…"

Her Scroll fell on her lap as she rubbed her eyes, biting her bottom lip as she shook her head.

"I thought you knew how to use a Scroll?" Mercury asked curiously, almost amazed at how dumb she managed to look.

Cinder grumbled quietly, most likely about how he talked too much. Mercury decided to change his question and asked again,

"So what's the picture for?"

His small effort seemed critically effective, as Cinder almost instantly seemed to forget about the pain her eyes underwent. There weren't many simple things that wouldn't brighten up someone who enjoyed simplicity like Cinder.

Raising her Scroll, Cinder proudly smiled as she pointed at her face. "Why, quite obviously, I don't want to go to Beacon looking like a country bum! So, isn't it obvious that I should ensure that my beautiful looks are not tainted?"

Mercury stared at Cinder incredulously.

"I don't think you ever looked like crap, though?"

"Really?" Cinder blinked, touching her face with a hand as if to confirm his words. A moment passed before her small smile widened even more. "Hm~. I see, I see…"

At this point, Mercury had just come to accept that even the smallest of compliments made Cinder feel like she was about to conquer the world.

"Well, I hope you look your best too, Mercury," Cinder spoke, glancing at him with a smirk. "Especially tomorrow. Our plan to infiltrate Beacon will absolutely work flawlessly!"

He couldn't help but smirk back at her.

"Yeah," Mercury nodded. "Will do, boss. By the way, you have a ladybug on your hair."

"Good to know, Merc- wait, what?"

…

…

…

…

…

…

"**AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF OH MY LORD GET THIS THING OFF ME AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-**"

As soon as the bus stopped, the bus driver walked over and hauled the three right out the bus without warning.


	3. Ruby

_Cinder beamed at the looks of surprise Emerald and Mercury gave her._

_It had been a few days since Mercury reluctantly joined them all. She, however, had quite a handful of plans that could keep them busy. Cinder Fall was not one to back down from challenges, no matter how mundane or useless they seemed to others. Small things often carried significance for the future, as if they were millions of Chekhov's guns sitting in a room, waiting to be fired!_

_Truth be told, Cinder believed- no, she knew she was just fantastic in so many ends. Power? Pft, she had a ton of it at her disposal. More often than not did people struggle to just get past her Semblance alone. As for where it came from?_

…_Well, that was the more concerning part about herself._

_She had no idea where her Semblance came from._

_Heck, she didn't even remember how her Aura got unlocked. The only thing she remembered was a series of snippets from her childhood, but even then, they were far too puzzling for her to mull about it. She did remember some important things, though, such as how one of her first recent memories revolved around waking up in McDonald's. All alone, with neither food nor anyone to accompany her._

_It sucked. It sucked even more when all the people around her stared at her pitifully. Why they did, she didn't know, but never again would that day come!_

_Now she wielded enough power to make people follow her and put on her a pedestal! If she knew it was that easy from the very beginning, she would've wasted no time in making everyone giving her their utmost attention. Now was a better time than never, however, and what else other than her sweat-breaking effort would prove that?_

_With power came food and followers. How could she not love it? She worked for no one- but, she would see to it that those who follow her would taste the sweet life she dreamt of._

"…Ma'am?" Emerald whispered, clearly not believing what Cinder had just told them. "You're really… going to let us use this money?"

"Don't call me ma'am!" Cinder shouted, crossing her arms as she glared at Emerald. Her glare ended up wilting as quickly as it bloomed when she saw Emerald's frightened look. "Who do you think you're talking to? I'm Cinder Fall- and no one impresses as much as I do. Of course it's true!"

A whole bag of Lien sat in front of Emerald and Mercury. Apparently, neither found the luxury to spend a decently large amount of money before. That was to be expected, but Cinder gradually found their quiet reaction to be rather unsatisfying.

She even reserved a nicer motel than the usual to amplify her the effect of showing off the money, too…

"What, is this not enough?" Cinder asked, raising an eyebrow at the two.

"N-No, no! This is more than enough! Thank you so much!"

"Of course," the fiery woman nodded, finally smiling as she walked over to her bed. "I expect that you use the money wisely. Consider it your allowance. Whether you upgrade your weapons or buy some nice things, I'd like a summary from both of your activities tomorrow. It's not often we get off days like this and I want to know what you do."

Cinder absolutely refused to mention that they did almost nothing but lounge around the motel for the past three days. She bet Emerald and Mercury didn't see it coming, either. They were pretty good people like that.

Her eyes widened as Cinder remembered something. Leaning over to the two, she hissed angrily, "And don't ever, _ever_ buy pop tarts. I refuse to forgive them for their treachery."

Pop tarts gave her the worst stomachache she ever had in ages. It'd take more than just deliciousness to convince her, this time!

Satisfied with how she handled the explanation, Cinder stretched her arms, letting out a loud yawn before rubbing her eyes. "Gosh, what time is it?" She grumbled as she looked around for a clock.

"It's midnight, ma- Cinder."

"Mm," she nodded, suddenly feeling exhausted as she laid down on her bed. "Well, anyway, have a good night, you two."

"Cinder?"

At Mercury's voice, Cinder's eyes fluttered open as she rose from her bed like a mummy. The silver-haired boy hadn't spoken much during their time together, so him speaking up would not go ignored.

"What is it, Mercury?"

His eyes averted to the floor for a moment. Contemplating. He fell into a visibly thoughtful look, undoubtedly picking his words to speak with her correctly. Cinder felt pride in that, knowing that he respected her enough to show that.

"Why did you offer me to join you?"

Continuing to look away from her, Mercury added, "There… must've been something in us to make you offer to us, right? What did you see in us?"

A good question…! But it was sort of too obvious for someone like Cinder.

She smirked as she glanced between Mercury and Emerald, the latter seeming to pay heavy attention to what Cinder would say.

"Well," Cinder said with confidence, "I figured we'd get along really well together.

"…That's pretty much it. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

Truth be told, Cinder left out the part of her almost exploding in joy about the idea of having people to follow her. She was their boss, however- making it obvious would make her look silly in their eyes.

Their silence proved to be rather unnerving. A loud sigh left Cinder as she grumbled, "Is that all you wanted to ask?" Slinking back into her blankets, she shut her eyes, a small, annoyed frown on her tired face. "If not, go to sleep already…"

"Yes, Cinder," the two answered simultaneously.

As she drifted off to sleep, Cinder heard the two speak for a moment. "Thank you," she heard Emerald say before walking away, with Mercury saying something similar.

Were they thanking each other for something…? She'd make sure to ask the next day… If she could remember…

* * *

**A BIG RED FLAG**

* * *

As the airship lowered itself to the docks, Cinder's smile steadily rose.

It was a fateful day. Neither Emerald nor Mercury believed it at first, but it really was happening. They were to enter Beacon Academy as fresh undergraduate students.

From what their records indicated, the three moved from Mistral with a background of having performed reasonably well in a separate combat school. Considering that they stayed at Mistral for quite a bit before the whole crab meat debacle occurred at Vacuo, it didn't feel out-of-place for them to lie about it. Emerald and Mercury always trained to ensure they wouldn't serve as a liability to Cinder.

For someone so powerful, however, Cinder sure did prefer the two accompanying her on shopping trips rather than encouraging their training.

The door of the airship eventually opened. Many teenagers filed out of the airship, and among the excited people was one _particularly_ excited woman.

"**Mwa ha ha!**" Cinder Fall laughed victoriously. "Here at last!"

_Note to self,_ Emerald thought as Mercury sniggered at their boss's excitement, _if Cinder gets bored, asking about what she could do all day is a viable solution to preventing her from whining all day._

Seriously. She didn't doubt that she could write a whole book just full of the things Cinder believed herself to be skilled at. Some of them even directly contradicted her actual abilities, such as playing video games well.

If getting stuck at the tutorial level of Cuphead was any indication, Cinder often ignored the definition of "good." She was only good at playing _some_ games, and even then, most of them were unpopular.

Holding their belongings closely to them, the three walked down to Beacon Academy.

They only heard and seen it on the news before. Seeing it up close really made the place seem massive, however. Like a castle isolated from the rest of the world, Beacon's structure was far more consistent and impressive than Vale's city districts. Even Mercury whistled at the grandeur of its appearance.

"Hey Em," he whispered to Emerald while staring at Cinder's triumphant walk. "Ten Lien says she destroys one of the facilities here."

"Tch." Emerald rolled her eyes, though she couldn't help but smirk at the surprisingly likely idea.

Cinder might have preemptively informed them of their business here, but really, the idea of attending an academy still felt awkward for the two. Neither Mercury nor Emerald really cared about that in the first place, considering they lived just fine without education, but that didn't mean they were naturals at staying amongst hormonal, immature people with weirdly high expectations of themselves.

Admittedly, they themselves were immature, but that wasn't saying much when _Cinder_ stood next to them.

"Let's find the auditorium first," Emerald spoke, with Mercury walking next to her. "From what I could tell, we're only getting a dorm until we're formed as a team first."

"I got a lil' map here, if that helps," Mercury waved a small pamphlet he took from the airship earlier. "We have a bit of time before the headmaster gives a speech or something."

"Excellent, you two," Cinder grinned, turning to them with her confidence at sky-high levels. "Mercury? Emerald? Why don't you go on ahead first? I'd like to indulge myself with the scenery here."

"Yes, Cinder."

"See you soon," Mercury grinned back as the two went on ahead.

As they went on ahead, an awkward silence fell between Emerald and Mercury.

"…You think she'll be fine on her own?" Mercury suddenly asked, his usual smugness replaced with a bit of concern.

"If you asked me that a year ago, I'd say no," Emerald answered simply. She looked back, only to find Cinder's eyes sparkle at the lush gardens surrounding Beacon.

"And honestly, I'd still say no."

* * *

Beautiful.

The very thought of this place becoming her castle overwhelmed Cinder's ego. Walking down a path around the main building, her eyes glittered at the sheer size of the academy. To think this was even an academy in the first place! No wonder everyone spoke of Beacon with envy and amazement.

_No, I mustn't think that far ahead,_ she berated herself. _After all, I didn't even make a name for myself yet._

It always confused her as to why nobody acknowledged her power. That, however, would be easy to fix. All she needed to do was make a name for herself. How? Well, that was the hard part, but everything after should be a cakewalk in her rise to power.

_A rich lady's life of sitting down and doing nothing isn't for me,_ she thought to herself proudly. _The kind of life I want is that of a rich lady who sits down and does __**everything**__!_

A proud laugh left her as she took a step forward.

Unfortunately, taking a step forward while closing one's eyes often spelled disaster. Unable to react, Cinder crashed straight into a small girl and a tall boy. All three of them fell backwards, recoiling from the impact.

"Ow!"

"Oof!"

"Uwah!"

Landing on her delicate bottom, Cinder shut her eyes as she let out a quiet hiss of pain. When amber pupils revealed themselves, they landed on the girl and the boy who dared to crash into her. How dare they bump into her like that?

…Though, on further inspection, she actually remembered the small girl.

"Oh, wait a second," Cinder whispered to herself as the two recovered from the harsh crash. "I remember you!"

"Huh? Oh, you're Cinder!" The red-cloaked girl perked up at the presence of a familiar face. "Remember me?"

"Yeah. You're that ninja."

"Yep- wait, no! I told you I'm not a ninja!"

Her face darkening, Cinder growled, "Only ninjas attack people when they least expect it."

"W-What?! Jaune, please tell her I'm not a ninja!"

The blond boy named Jaune glanced between the two before dutifully speaking, "She isn't a ninja."

"See?"

"Hmph," Cinder grumbled as she picked herself up. Dusting off any dirt that got on the back of her dress, she crossed her arms as she leaned over at the two. They simply stared at her, remaining seated under her pressuring gaze.

"Fine, then you're not a ninja."

Ruby sighed in relief.

"You're just a doofus, instead."

"Oh, give me a break!"

* * *

Ruby Rose found her first day at Beacon to be rather interesting.

Ever since the whole incident where she sort of bumped into Vale's most notorious thief, Roman Torchwick, rumors spread around her sudden entrance in Beacon Academy. Some spoke of her potentially involved in some kind of rigged application process, though the popular opinion pointed at her just being a prodigy. If she really was, she'd have to thank Uncle Qrow for that!

But truth be told, it was only with Headmaster Ozpin's interest in her abilities- not her abilities themselves.

She still didn't know if she had what it took her, but…

"Cinder Fall?" Jaune repeated. "That's a pretty cool name, not gonna lie."

"But of course!" Cinder huffed with an incredibly satisfied smile. "Some people say I'm pretty _cool_ for someone so _hot._"

Ruby winced at the Yang-tier pun Cinder spat out so naturally. No offense to Cinder, but if someone like her got into Beacon, then surely, Ruby herself would do fine… right?

Right. Maybe.

Unable to shake off all her doubts, she quietly pondered on what to ask of Cinder instead. It had been their second time meeting, the first being at Vale. Even then, she crashed into the ash-haired woman. Seriously, what was up with her _**crashing**_ into so many people these days? Cinder, Roman, and even that weird-looking dude who helped Roman…

"So, Cinder?" Ruby took the initiative to speak with the girl. "It's kinda cool that we get to meet again! And here, of all places, too. Oh right, are your friends here with you?"

"Indeed," Cinder nodded, turning away as she closed her eyes. "Emerald and Mercury did come with me. I expect us to perform exceedingly well. Though, it's almost like fate wants us to bump into each other… a little too physically, so to speak, but you get the point."

Ruby laughed, wholeheartedly agreeing with the latter statement.

Though there was this weird vibe that always came from her, Cinder didn't seem like a bad person. That didn't mean Cinder wasn't a bit of a klutz, however, as she continued to keep closing her eyes and talking about something regarding her lunch being weird before she arrived at Beacon. Poor Jaune had to keep pulling Cinder toward them to prevent her from walking right out of the path.

With that said, she already got to meet two nice people. _In your face, Yang!_

"Speaking of which, does anyone know where we're going?" Jaune asked, a hopeful smile on his face.

"…Huh?"

"…What?"

…

…

…

Ruby blinked, staring at the boy.

"But… I was following _you._"

"Wait, what? Oh, **crap!"** Jaune exclaimed, panic washing over his face as he looked around. "Guys, we gotta get moving!"

"Never fear," Cinder spoke coolly as she took out her Scroll. "I took a picture from my friend's pamphlet of Beacon. We should get there in no time."

Both Ruby and Jaune's eyes widened as they turned to Cinder. By the Gods…! Cinder was so useful when the time called for it!

"That's awesome! You're the best, Cinder!" Ruby squealed.

"Tell me about it," Jaune beamed at the woman in question. "That's some wicked foresight you got there."

"Hmph, it's only natural," Cinder rolled her eyes, though that did nothing to stop her wide smile from fading. She began tapping her Scroll. "Preparation is always the key to success-…"

Much to Cinder's confusion, the Scroll refused to turn on.

"Why is this not working...?"

…

…

…

"**EVERYONE, QUICK!**" Cinder suddenly screamed as she stuffed the Scroll back in her pocket,** "FIND THE AUDITORIUM NOWWWWW!**"

"**EHHHHHHHHHHHH?!**"

Unfortunately for Cinder, she didn't just boast about herself on the ship to Emerald and Mercury. She also got a little too hooked to a video game installed on the Scroll, being occupied with it for several hours straight.


	4. Jaune

**A BIG RED FLAG**

* * *

With the combined efforts of Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, and Cinder Fall, things almost went downhill.

And yes, Ruby knew she didn't word that thought incorrectly.

On their way to the auditorium, Jaune and Cinder pointed at two different directions, their predictions of where the starting ceremony for the first year students at Beacon would take place being completely different. After much trial and error, it turned out that _none_ of them were correct, and the auditorium was at a completely different location.

Thankfully, they made it at the nick of time. Almost tumbling through the entrance, the three gasped in relief as they panted for breath.

Shaking her head frantically, Cinder straightened herself as a proud smile entered her features again. "Well," she said with a confident tone, "we made it just on time."

"Just… barely," Jaune agreed, taking their wild goose chase the worst out of the three. "But, on time is better… than off of it, I suppose…"

As Ruby's eyes glazed through the crowd, her gaze fell on blonde hair impossible to miss even from a mile away.

"Ruby, over here!"

Yang Xiao Long waved at her half-sister with a large grin. "I saved you a spot!"

"Oh! Hey, uh," Ruby turned to the other two next to her with an apologetic smile. "I gotta go! I'll see you two after the ceremony!"

"Huh? Hey, wait!"

Before Jaune could say anything further, Ruby made her way to Yang. As much as she wanted to hang out with Jaune and Cinder, she very much preferred not having her sister embarrass her in front of her friends. Not that Yang didn't embarrass Ruby almost on a daily basis, but sisters just seemed to exist to be a handful to deal with.

A lovable handful, but still a handful.

"So," Yang began with an innocent grin, "how's your day going, little sister?"

"You mean since you ditched me and I _exploded?"_

The blonde brawler stared at Ruby expectantly. When it turned out that Ruby's little glare wasn't going to go away any sooner, she blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Yikes, melt down already?"

"No, I _literally_ exploded a hole in front of the school," Ruby retorted, though it contorted into a thoughtful look as she tried recalling earlier events involving a prissy white-haired girl. "And there was some fire, and I think some ice…?"

"…Are you being sarcastic?" Yang asked, her smile refusing to leave.

"I wish!"

Rolling her eyes, Ruby frowned as she mumbled, "I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me…"

Gods, she could still hear the angry girl ranting on about how important her things were. It sucked so much, and it didn't help that she just seemed so unlikable.

"…and then I sneezed, and then I exploded! And then she yelled _again_, and I felt really, really bad, and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me-!"

"**YOU!**"

"**OH GOD IT'S HAPPENING AGAAAAIN!**"

As Ruby leapt into the arms of her sister, she prayed that her first year wasn't going to be an infinite loop of angry, yelling girls around her.

* * *

With Ruby out of the picture, Jaune decided to stand next to Cinder.

If he were to be honest? Well, it wasn't that bad, actually. Cinder Fall just seemed like a naturally talkative person, so the awkward realm of having nothing to talk about completely refused to exist with her around. Of course, it seemed she just wanted to talk about herself a lot, but some of the things she talked about weren't entirely boring.

"And so like, all three of us were walking out of Vale, right?" Cinder spoke excitedly with a fire blazing in her eyes as her fists remained pumped in front of her. "And then we met this cool lady with a cloak who gave us a **free apple**, telling us to take care of ourselves- probably because of how **awesome** we looked. We weren't lost, by the way, I just happened to be walking because I got a high score in an arcade the other day."

_So you were lost, _he corrected her in his thoughts.

"So what happened next?"

"Then, some creepy guy showed up and we all made a tactical retreat!" Cinder laughed at the memory, evidently. "He was far too slow, though. The fool _never_ saw it coming. The four of us separated, and we never saw each other again. Except for these guys next to me, though, they're my friends-"

The instant moment the "F word" left her mouth, Cinder's eyes widened before she coughed, clearing her throat.

"My… partners," she corrected herself. Why she did? Not even Jaune could understand. Cinder just seemed to hate using that word, even when she bragged about herself outside of the building. He could tell the two students standing next to Cinder were her friends, however.

Emerald and Mercury. As Cinder liked to call them, Em-And-M. They seemed rather polite and greeted him as soon as they saw him with Cinder, despite their odd quirks of jabbing at each other's credibility. While Emerald seemed calmer than the confident Mercury, both of them treated Cinder almost identically.

A weirdo who has their respect.

_Sure would be nice if I had someone like that,_ Jaune thought. _Well, outside of my family, that is._

"So, Emerald? Mercury?" Cinder asked as she hovered at hand at Jaune's direction. "What do you think of Jaune, here? Don't you think he's a pretty good guy?"

The two glanced at him. Noticing he'd been suddenly shoved into the spotlight, Jaune gave them an awkward smile as he bowed politely.

"Well," Mercury thought carefully, "he's able to listen to pretty much everything you said so far, so that's pretty good."

"…What's that supposed to mean?"

"Mercury means that Jaune's a good listener and is polite to you, Cinder," Emerald pointed out, though for some reason, the last part felt less genuine and more out of necessity. The way she sneaked an apologetic bow at Jaune's direction said enough.

"Hm…"

Turning to Jaune with a lush smile, Cinder stared at the blond boy, who grew red under her gaze. A mysterious glint shone in her eyes.

As she ruffled his hair, her smile widened as she laughed like a rich lady again.

"Well, of course he would!" She exclaimed. "The tales I share are unmatched in terms of exciting content! What a wise man. I'll give you a billion Lien if I ever conquer the world."

_What a wonderful reminder that looks aren't everything,_ Jaune thought in amazement, all of his earlier embarrassment fading rapidly. _She's somehow beautiful **and** a weirdo. __Well, if someone like her is in Beacon, maybe I could stand a chance._

…_Who am I kidding? She just said she wiped out entire nests of sand crabs in Vacuo on her own. That's insane._

According to his father, not even seasoned Huntsmen were known to fight in areas like Vacuo for extended periods of time. During the night, winds grew far too harsh to make navigation safe in the shifting sands, and in the day, the heat wore down even those who lived in Vacuo if they stayed out for too long.

Someone like her shouldn't be talking with him- yet, she had yet to ditch him to talk with someone else. It was weird- he swore that the way she bragged about herself should be annoying. Everything she _did_ brag about, however, was rather mundane. She almost felt like that one kid in class who'd ace everything without trying.

Despite all that, she dragged him along with her excitedly.

Personally, even if he didn't felt qualified to do so, Jaune didn't mind getting to know of quirky people like her.

Maybe she could be a good friend!

"Say, Jaune Arc," Cinder turned to him with a beaming, expectant smile, "do you like pineapple on pizza?"

…

…

…

Emerald and Mercury visibly froze in horror. They weren't alone, as evident with Jaune sharing their visible emotion. Cinder innocently glanced between them, as if she didn't know what was wrong.

_No, wait,_ Jaune realized. _She isn't pretending- **she legitimately doesn't know...**_

At their silence, Cinder added, "I heard it's the next best thing to wearing jorts in the winter."

On a second thought, maybe he just stepped on an atomic landmine.


	5. Yang

**A BIG RED FLAG**

* * *

"It's like a _**big**_ slumber party!"

"Cinder, a little quieter, please?"

"Mercury, you're wearing airpods. You should be hearing nothing right now."

Truth be told, Emerald was surprised to find the whole process of Beacon's unorthodox entrance exam… well, unorthodox. She only heard of it before, but seeing it happen before her was an entirely different story. Cinder wasn't wrong to an extent- it really did feel like everyone just gathered up for an unfittingly formal slumber party.

Here she was, with Cinder and Mercury, as First Year students, waiting for Initiation.

Mercury took it well, though. All the girls around him definitely roused a reaction Emerald could only describe as annoying. For once, he wasn't bothering her about how she had some dramatically hidden desire to get into his freaky love life, though, so there was a bigger plus to that. There were some boys who caught Emerald's eye here and there, but overall, there was nothing too impressive.

But really, a lot of things became unimpressive after hanging out with someone as loud as Cinder Fall. Even Mercury could agree with her on that, which explained why he seemed busy with giving flirtatious looks at the girls nearby him while also formally reacting to whatever Cinder had to say.

"Cinder," Mercury raised an eyebrow as he took his earphones off. "They're not airpods, for the last time."

Crossing her arms, Cinder mumbled something under her breath as she looked away grumpily. "_'They're not airpods,'_ he says," she grumbled. "_'Neener neener, blah blah.'_ Mercury, you better not start telling me I set my pants on fire."

A quick exchange occurred between Emerald and Mercury as they glanced at each other in silence.

Sometimes, silence really was golden.

As she looked up from the two, Cinder laughed slyly as her gaze fell upon all the students in the large room full of sleeping mats. Asserting dominance has never seemed so easy- if they were to always be gathered up like this, she'd get the attention of _everyone_ in no time. Prodigy Huntress with an admirable power? Nobody would be able to resist her.

That also meant nobody _would_ resist her!

_My plan is still in its early stages,_ she thought giddily. _But! Nevertheless, my plan goes smoothly. Mwe he he._

She almost spiffed out a giggle, but barely managed to reset her composure.

_Keep calm, Cinder. You're the one with a plan so much greater than everyone else's here. You need to set an example for Em-And-M._

Emerald often told her that taking deep breaths helped calm people down. So, Cinder did just that as her eyes fell on Ruby Rose.

…Ruby?

Cinder gasped.

Their eyes widening, time seemed to slow down as Emerald and Mercury turned to Cinder, whose lips began to curl into a smile. Horror struck on their faces as they instinctively picked themselves up from the ground. It was a look they recognized- one all too familiar in the worst of ways.

Cinder was _extremely __excited. __**In a room full of people.**_

"Emerald!" Mercury whispered harshly as he picked up Cinder's crappy handheld console nearby and tossed it.

Expertly catching it, Emerald let out a quick "Got it!" as she launched herself up from her sleeping bed, intent on filling Cinder's vision with the console she treasured for some godforsaken reason nobody understood.

But it was too late.

As their boss ran, practically smacking Emerald aside back to her sleeping bed, she almost left a small trail of fire. Mercury watched his green-haired partner crash into the bed next to him, cringing as she landed in a fetal position like she fell over on her head.

"…"

"…"

"…You tried."

"I know."

"You really did."

Emerald nodded, refusing to get up and face humiliation. "That's the worst part."

* * *

Ruby hoped the night would end with a peaceful conclusion.

Unfortunately, fate seemed to absolutely hate her for some reason, and it also wanted to smack her with all the curveballs it could throw at her.

"Oh, not **YOU AGAIN!**"

Of all the things that could happen, Weiss just had to meet them in the worst of places. She just had a surprisingly nice conversation with Blake, too, and for someone she hadn't met often, Ruby figured she did a decent job at the whole "being social" thing. So much for progress, though, when a certain prissy princess just wanted to ruin everything.

Ruby really didn't want to start making enemies, but the girl just made it so hard for her. With that said, Yang and Weiss meeting was even _worse_ than Ruby meeting Weiss. They were just as hot-headed as one another, with evenly matched pride.

"Guys, she's right, people are trying to sleep," Ruby interrupted the two.

"Oh," Weiss rolled her eyes as she glared at the smaller girl, "_now_ you're on my side?"

"I was _always_ on your side!"

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister?" Yang growled, glaring at the snowy girl with a tinge of venom in her tone. "She's only trying to be nice!"

"I agree, she's nice!"

"She's a hazard to my-"

Blinking in confusion, Weiss and the others turned to the voice that agreed with Yang. A tall, dark-haired woman with pajamas with… a lot of cute-looking fires pasted all over it stood before them. Her amber eyes gleamed with energy.

"Cinder?" Ruby muttered, staring at the girl while eying the odd clothes she wore. "Wow, those are… some unique pajamas."

Lifting her chin at Ruby's supposed compliment, Cinder snorted with a hand on her hip. "It's only natural I'm unique," she agreed with an air of confidence.

Raising an eyebrow, Weiss seethed, "And who are _you_ supposed to be?"

"I am Cinder Fall," the girl answered, her gaze falling upon the Schnee. "I suppose you are… Mice Schnee?"

"M-M-Mice?!" Weiss shrieked, her eyes threatening to bulge at any moment as her lips quivered. "How dare you compare me with vermin! It's Weiss Schnee- get it right!"

Contrary to her sultry looks, Cinder leaned away from Weiss in surprise, almost looking frightened by the girl's outburst. Her nervous look quickly faded, however, as she smiled again. "Well, Weiss Schnee," Cinder spoke, "Ruby is right. People _are_ trying to sleep. As a matter of fact, my partner over there, Emerald, looks like she could use some rest."

She pointed past Weiss. Everyone turned to find a green-haired girl in a pose so pitiful, it actually made them put aside their differences for a split moment and cringe in unison. The silver-haired boy next to the girl shook his head as if he were concerned about Emerald's wellbeing. With a pose like that, they couldn't help but understand him.

"So, how about everyone settles down?" Cinder spoke with a proud smile in response to Weiss' deflating power. "It'd be a shame to not see everyone's peak performance tomorrow."

Glancing between Ruby and Cinder, Weiss remained still for a few moments before huffing in frustration. "You have a point," she grumbled. "Though my point about that dolt stands, I will concede for now."

Turning away, the snow-haired girl marched off angrily to sleep.

Cinder's chest puffed out in satisfaction. Deep down, however, her thoughts screamed in triumph as she internally headbanged at winning an argument.

_Little do they know,_ she cackled within the depths of her mind, _that I'm actually asserting my dominance in __**verbal arguments!**__ Before they know it, they'll never be able to beat me in a battle of words!_

Oh, yes. She could see it- everyone praising her for her wise words! Though Mercury and Emerald might have a small lead in talking logically, Cinder was certain she'd catch up in no time. What could they do that she couldn't, after all?

A poke on her shoulder woke her up from her train of thoughts as Cinder returned to reality. She turned to Ruby, with a blonde girl she remembered seeing at the auditorium. The girl who wore a black bow was unfamiliar to her, however, though she held a book that almost sparked Cinder's curiosity.

It turned out the blonde was the one who poked her. "Hey, you got a way with making the obvious sound cool," she grinned.

"…"

…

_I don't know who you are, but how dare you say what I say is obvious!_

Noticing a certain grumpy look forming on Cinder's face, Ruby perked up and butted in. "U-Um, Cinder! This is Yang, she's my sister! Yang, this is Cinder!"

"Oh!"

Yang's smile grew wider as she turned to Cinder. "I heard you were with my sister before the ceremony!" Giving her a thumbs up, Yang used the same hand to offer a handshake. "You seem like a good friend of Ruby's."

"…"

…

_I still don't know who you are, but how dare you not compliment me earlier!_

As quickly as her frown faded, Cinder smiled proudly. "Yes," she nodded. "I am an acquaintance of your sister. I helped her get to the auditorium when we happened to get lost in the academy."

Raising an eyebrow, Yang glanced at Ruby, who smiled at her knowingly. After giving it a quick thought, Yang remembered what Ruby told her earlier about this Cinder person.

* * *

"_So, Jaune's nice, point taken" Yang nodded. "What about that Cinder girl you met?"_

"_Well…"_

_Smiling sheepishly, Ruby responded,_

"_She's nice, but louder, I guess? She also sucks at directions like I do, though. She gets happy really easily."_

* * *

The more Yang looked at Cinder, the more she realized this person was actually just extremely confident regardless of whether she was right or wrong.

…Not that it was a bad thing, really. Yang totally understood that part.

"Well, thanks for that," Yang said with a grin.

Cinder's proud smile, which refused to stop growing at every compliment, reminded Yang that Ruby really wasn't kidding when she said Cinder was easy to please. Not everyone was a complex set of emotions. Some people were just extremely easy to read.

Personally, Yang thought that was fine. When did simplicity like that hurt anyone?

"By the way, Ruby, don't you think Jaune's kind of cute? He's kind of like Mercury but way nerdier."

On a second thought, perhaps this Cinder Fall person was actually the most complex person of all.

As the night went deeper, Blake Belladona set aside her book and blew the candle that lit the room.


	6. Reese

_When she rode a skateboard, she didn't do it because it was just fun. She did it because it was fun __**and**__ she was good at it. Reese Chloris always believed that there wasn't really much to think about in most occasions in life. Bad grades? So what? Better luck next time, right? At the end of the day, she wasn't built for excelling in academics, but she knew the other things she did great at._

_Skateboarding, a little bit of martial arts- things the people of Mistral would nod their heads at. She had nothing really shady about herself, because there really was no reason to. Reese always lived an honest life, no matter how steep her ups and downs in life went. She never understood why so many people had the mindset of being stubborn in trying too hard._

_Well, she used to, before she crashed straight into such a situation herself._

"You really look like you want to drop dead," the voice of the girl accompanying her spoke honestly. "No offense."

"What the heck am I gonna do now…?"

Reese sighed as she planted her face against her arm on the table. In the case of emotional downtimes, the café right next to the skateboard park she frequented helped her think better. Admittedly, she wasn't the brightest of people, but she wasn't oblivious to her own feelings. Everyone needed their special places to feel good or bad in, and in her case, a café surprisingly helped a lot.

Then again, a café wasn't going to solve all her problems.

Shaking her head, Reese grumbled, "Ughhhh, seriously. I didn't think my academics would actually be _better_ than I thought!"

Looking up at her friend, Reese pleaded, "Emerald, help me out here, will ya?"

Emerald raised an eyebrow as she sipped her coffee, putting it on the table. "What am I, your mother?" She retorted, though her amused look remained clear. "I've only been here for a month, anyway. How would I know about where you should go?"

"B-But Emerald, you travel a lot, right?" Reese asked, almost desperately. "Maybe it's too much to ask, but I just wanna know more about the other regions before I make a decision!"

It had been exactly a month since she met Emerald Sustrai, a girl who apparently specialized in gathering intel of various sorts. During one of Reese's frantic skateboard nights, she happened to meet Emerald, who seemed interested in trying it out herself. A few attempts later, Emerald seemed content with the idea that she sucked at skateboarding, but the two continued to meet at the park rather frequently.

"I'm only here because my boss is here," Emerald pointed out.

"She seems pretty nice, though."

"…That doesn't change the fact that I'm not here on my own accord."

"Y-Yeah, but I just wanna know!"

A long sigh left the green-haired girl. Reese winced at the girl's tired look, but she quickly recovered when Emerald glanced at her again.

Emerald eventually asked, "Be honest. Aren't you asking this because of Beacon Academy?"

At the last two words that left Emerald's lips, Reese froze.

Like a flower wilting, Reese slumped in her chair as she shrunk, a more genuine frown replacing her pout.

It was strange. For almost the entirety of her time practicing to become a Huntress-in-training, she never paid attention to Vale for the most part. Mistral always seemed like it had everything for her, so the idea of leaving it in the first place never occurred to her. The idea of leaving home always felt foreign to her, with so little of its consequences known to her.

She only happened to grow interested in Beacon only recently, however.

"It's weird, I know," she mumbled. "I always wanted to go to Haven, but… recently, I've been having these dreams, lately."

"Dreams?"

Nodding, Reese relaxed a little as she straightened herself on the chair. "Yep," she confessed with a quick nod. "Dreams. They're nothing much, but I keep seeing myself in front of Beacon Academy, tacky uniform and all. Maybe it's because I only saw a few parts of it from a magazine at first, but I always dreamed of standing in front of Beacon- never inside it.

"I gotta admit I'm curious, but more importantly, I kinda… got interested in trying for Beacon instead of Haven."

If she had to admit something, it would be that it didn't even feel like her own thoughts at all. For the longest time, Reese didn't care about the other academies aside from Haven. It all just suddenly happened a few days before she brought it up to Emerald, and whatever it was, it refused to leave her mind.

Emerald sipped her coffee once more. With a swift nod, she put down her cup and stated, "That sounds incredibly stupid. You should go there, then."

"…Both of those things don't match each other, Emerald."

Rolling her eyes, Emerald crossed her arms as her back pressed against her chair. "What I'm saying," she explained, "is that you should stop contradicting yourself."

"Huh?"

"You say you always perform best when you go with your thoughts, no matter how far-fetched they are. Now you're saying as if you don't know if those thoughts are good after all. Are you just using that as an excuse to avoid being responsible?"

Again, Reese wilted at Emerald's words.

"I'm… not trying to do that," she spoke, softer than before. "Sorry."

A sigh left Emerald as her own expression softened.

Putting her coffee down, Emerald explained, "Look. I'm not saying you're being an idiot. I'm just saying that it's something you have to do on your own. I can't read your mind, but at the very least, I can only point out if it's a really dumb idea or not."

A small smirk replaced Emerald's frown as she added, "And maybe it is dumb. Sometimes it's for the better."

Dumb.

Yeah, maybe it was. Maybe this time, it was just so dumb, even Reese herself got amazed that she came up with something like that.

At the same time, though, she had a feeling there had to be a good reason she began to think of Beacon. The potential of a reason hidden from her own plain sight excited her a bit. Though Haven and all the other academies hosted talented Huntsmen and Huntresses alike, none had quite the reputation as Beacon Academy did. Even rumors had it that many combat tournament champions often attended Beacon.

Maybe she really should go to Beacon! Or she should just chill out and stop overshooting like a moron. Emerald was right- it really did sound like something only she herself should handle.

With a smirk finally breaking away her frown, Reese turned to Emerald happily. "You know, I think I needed to hear that," she admitted. "Thanks, Em."

Satisfied at Reese's reaction, Emerald promptly nodded and drank from her cup of coffee again. Before she set it on the table, however, the green-haired girl noticed Reese's sparkling eyes of inspiration, freezing as she did so.

"Well, Emerald," Reese grinned as Emerald leaned away from her, "you said you're leaving Mistral in a week, right? How about I get your sorry bum to use a board without falling off, huh? You could use a hoverboard if you're feeling ambitious, you know!"

"Uh," Emerald's eyes darted around the café, almost as if she searched for available escape routes. "No thanks, Reese. I'm good. Really. Seriously."

At Reese's unfazed grin, Emerald smiled back awkwardly.

She just prayed that Cinder would come to pick her up as soon as possible.

* * *

**A BIG RED FLAG**

* * *

Centuries and eons proved that the human nature never truly changed. Ozpin knew more than anyone, having spent most of his life as a curse than a man. Every generation, he would witness humanity choose drastic decisions to make, only to cause a combustion of disorder and chaos- ultimately fueling the Grimm with exactly what they needed. He was no exception, however. After all, it was a single drastic decision that eventually tore apart the life he knew.

Headmaster Ozpin watched his Scroll with one hand, the other occupied with a cup of coffee. Currently out by the Emerald Forest, he stood within the very ends of the Initiation's perimeters.

The sight of Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee arguing only made him smile softly. It faded as quickly as it formed, his attention quickly diverting to checking on the rest of the students.

"It appears that Miss Rose is at an odd's difference with Miss Schnee," Glynda Goodwitch sighed, barely containing the urge to roll her eyes at the childish sight. "It's almost amazing how their synchronization seems so perfectly… incompatible."

"It's unlike of you to judge early, Glynda," Ozpin commented, his eyes glazing through all the security cameras planted throughout the forest. There weren't that many in the first place, but enough to keep a general track of the students' progress. "Previous teams in the past have often proved that some of the most unlikely of teams turned out to create stars out of students."

At her silence, Ozpin continued to look through the progress of the students when his eyes fell upon a certain fiery one. His eyes narrowed as he adjusted his glasses.

_Cinder Fall,_ he recalled.

Though it sounded unique like many of the other names his eyes fell upon through piles of transcripts, Cinder herself was an oddity. She possessed great power, talent in combat, and an immense prowess with exercising leadership despite her… quirks. By this definition, she was actually a pretty good example of a Huntress-in-training.

Yet, if she was just a normal Huntress-in-training, Amber wouldn't come to warn him of an unknown threat. The unsettling thought was bearable only through the knowledge that Cinder seemed to not know of what any of the Maidens were, which eliminated a handful of ulterior motives that could've influenced her assisting Amber. It really made him wonder why she even wanted to attend Beacon in the first place.

But if there was anything about her to trust, it was her apparent eagerness to speak with others.

"That is Ms. Fall, correct?" Glynda asked, her eyes fixated on Ozpin's Scroll. She looked up at him, her expression far from terse, but not necessarily relaxed. "That is the young lady Amber spoke of."

"Indeed."

As she raised an eyebrow at the streamed footage, Glynda commented, "She seems rather excited to decimate the Grimm in her way."

If anything, Cinder just seemed like the person to be excited for anything. Ozpin noticed that pretty quickly, though he kept quiet and instead focused on watching the girl plow through the Grimm in her way.

After all, despite Amber's survival and consciousness intact, Cinder Fall somehow held a fraction of the Fall Maiden's power.

Perhaps Cinder herself didn't know it yet.

* * *

Laughing at their demise, Cinder walked down the forest like a fashion model going down the world's greatest runway ever made. Flames followed her charcoal-colored blades as they hacked through Beowolves with ease, each and every one of them being severed in single strikes.

"Mwa ha ha!" She cackled as she witnessed the sight of retreat from a couple Beowolves. "Cower before my might!"

With every stride the blades made, every Grimm that met contact with them were severed in two. Ashes and dust filled the air behind her as a long path of death was left behind her. As she laughed, one of the Beowolves in her way lunged at her, opening its jaws to clamp them against her neck.

Not bothering to spare a glance at it, Cinder lopped its neck right off with a vertical slash parallel to the path she walked. For every passing moment, she moved, unstoppable. It felt so right, and so awesome!

_I bet those girls from yesterday would totally just explode if they saw me like this,_ Cinder thought, smirking as she almost snorted and giggled at the same time. Regardless, the corners of her lips remained curved upward as she continued to move.

As much as she enjoyed the sensation of power, however, she knew that was not the goal of her presence in the forest. Initiation- it would determine who her team was for the rest of her time in Beacon Academy. For her, meeting Emerald and Mercury was her top priority. Meeting anyone else would be a secondhand worry.

…She did kind of worry about not meeting those two fast enough, but nevertheless, she figured it wouldn't be a problem.

Her legs unconsciously moved faster as Cinder continued to look for her partners. At the sound of a bush rustling behind her, she perked up and turned to stare at it intently.

"…"

A moment later, a sigh of relief left her when two familiar figures left the foliage.

"I was wondering where you two were," she smiled as Emerald and Mercury walked towards her. "I take it you two are partners?"

"Just as you instructed," Emerald nodded. At her words, however, both Cinder and Mercury stared at her peculiarly.

Heat quickly invaded Emerald's cheeks as she suddenly blurted out, "Er, no, wait, my bad. I meant to say it was just natural."

"You know, Emerald," Cinder squinted at her green-haired partner intently. "I sometimes think you say that because you're not listening to me."

"I-I swear, I just said that out of habit!" Emerald shouted, averting her gaze from the two as Mercury sniggered at her. He always had a kick out of Emerald getting flustered, though that didn't mean he outright bullied her. They were probably just friends.

Turning to Cinder, Mercury asked, "So, Cinder? You meet anyone yet?"

"Not yet," Cinder shook her head, flicking a few strands of hair away from her face. "I have yet to meet anyone…"

Her eyes gained a sparkle of inspiration as she smiled. "But I _have_ been thinking of a few candidates!"

Mercury shrugged as Emerald only let out a small smile, still recovering from earlier. As the three began to walk together, they all periodically looked around the forest to see if there were any Grimm hiding to ambush them. Whether it be coincidence or not, there always seemed to be less things to do whenever Cinder got in the mood to talk with someone.

Continuing from his earlier question, Mercury asked curiously, "Aaaaand, said candidates include…?"

A thoughtful look fell over Cinder's features as she visibly went over her options. "Well, that Ruby Rose girl is a pretty nice girl. She made fun of my sense of direction by comparing it with her own, though, so I want to smack her for that. Jaune seems like a nerdy version of you, Mercury, but I feel like I could end up pushing him around a lot, don't you think?"

Almost offended at the comparison, Mercury muttered, "At least I _look_ like I could fight for crap."

"Don't worry, Mercury. You're a twink yourself."

Emerald smirked as the silver-haired boy glared at her grumpily. Nice as the guy was, being compared with Jaune of all people felt utterly wrong. The guy just _looked_ the "weak guy" shtick, so why did Cinder keep comparing him with Jaune?

"Theeeeeeen, there's also that Yang girl," Cinder continued, smiling at the plethora of candidates she had in mind. "I feel like her code of humor would work _perfectly_ with mine."

At this, Emerald's face darkened with Mercury's in unison. _Quick reminder that those two should meet as little as possible,_ the two thought to themselves.

As much as they respected Cinder, they seriously did NOT need someone encouraging her jokes.

"I don't really know what to think of Mice Sneeze, though," Cinder nodded to herself, "but I think she could be a good partner. She seems all prickly and serious- almost like a human alarm clock at every little thing, if you ask me."

"Maybe," Emerald nodded in agreement at Cinder's analysis, "though, Mice isn't her name."

"Ah, right. White Sneeze."

It seemed Mercury let out his thousandth snicker, as he just barely managed to stifle it. "White Sneeze," he repeated to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.

Cinder smiled as she gestured to herself, glancing at her two partners. "As you can see, I'm fairly certain that all Beacon Academy students are going to be absolutely suitable for my team."

Emerald and Mercury nodded as a cyan-haired blur crashed into Cinder. The two continued walking, wondering where the relics would be. From what they could tell, since they were in the mountains, chances were that-

…Wait, what?

Turning back, Emerald and Mercury stared at Cinder, who lay on the grass with a girl in a purple-hooded sweater. Next to the two lay some kind of odd contraption that looked similar to a skateboard, along with Cinder's two blades.

_Huh? Wait a second._

As the figure picked herself up, she rubbed the back of her head as she grumbled. Emerald blinked as she knowingly pointed at the girl.

"That hoverboard," Emerald spoke, glancing between the item and its owner as she asked, "Aren't you…?"

The cyan-haired figure winced as she glanced up with a small pout. It would fade quickly, however, as her eyes widened at the sight of Emerald and Mercury. She then turned to Cinder, who groaned about something regarding shooting stars, before turning back to the two.

"Reese?" Emerald managed, staring at the girl.

"Emerald?" Reese muttered, almost as flabbergasted at seeing them in the forest as they were to her. "And you're… Mercury?"

Silence fell over them, the only active noises belonging to the forest's wildlife. A few birds chirped meaningfully, with the tree's leaves gently brushing against each other to small winds.

"Guys?" Cinder whimpered, completely disoriented from reasonable thoughts. "I think I just saw Bob Ross waving at me on the other side of the river…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Guys? I said I think I just saw Bob Ross-"

Mercury sighed, "We heard you the first time, Cinder."


	7. The Team

**A BIG RED FLAG**

* * *

With Cinder sashaying ahead of them, Emerald, Mercury and Reese followed her lead.

On a first glance, it would obviously seem like she knew where she went. But behind her confident guise, Emerald continued to fuel her with the knowledge of sensible direction. Rather than spinning in circles and talking about herself even longer as a result, the thief's help ended up bolstering their sense of progression in the trip.

Mercury, on the other hand, just enjoyed the pretty company. _Three chicks and none of them want me dead,_ he told himself. _This seriously can't be jinxed by anything even if I begged for it._

And he truly knew that for once, he was completely right. While the Reese girl looked way too unorganized to set up a death trap for him, he'd come to know Emerald to be pretty straightforward with him. She was far less earnest when they first met, but Cinder's existence ended up letting the two share a familiar sentiment.

Then there was Cinder.

"Where are all the Grimm?" She smirked, her eyes glazing over the forest as they continued to walk. "Clearly, my epic proportions of power may have just scared them all off. How befitting of unsympathetic creatures!"

_Well, actually,_ Emerald thought as she glanced at Cinder, _I think you're just beaming with too much positive radiance for them._ There was no doubt that the four indirectly possessed the rare advantage of having nothing to be negative enough about to lure Grimm in. While Cinder might disagree, Emerald knew that it let them waste less energy on needless mobs in their way.

"Man, I really didn't think I'd bump into you, Em," Reese smiled awkwardly, turning to Mercury and Cinder as she bowed informally to the former. "It's nice to meet ya too again. Merc, was it?"

A single smirk answered her question. "Got the right man," he confirmed for her with a playful wink. "Only heard about you possibly getting into Beacon cause of Emerald. Is this the part where I say 'Congrats'?"

"Psh, don't do that," Reese dismissed casually, though she seemed more shy at the compliment than the look he gave her. Looking up, her eyes gained a gleam of interest as she asked, "Though, I totally didn't hear about you guys being interested in Beacon, too."

Remaining ahead, Cinder turned to Reese as she walked backwards with a wide grin. "Oh, it's actually a pretty last minute decision for ourselves, too. But our perfectly average grades got us in here without a hitch. Isn't that right, Mercury?"

"Uh, Cinder? Behind you."

"Hm? What are you-"

Before she finished calling her silver-haired comrade, a rude tree bark decided to have Cinder crash straight into it headfirst.

"_**OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!**_"

Emerald and Mercury simply stared at Cinder in pity as they sighed._ Ah, crap. Here we go again._

While her head did seem to bump into the tree harshly, it wasn't as loud as Cinder's ensuing whine. It almost sounded reminiscent of a valley girl losing her Scroll for the first time.

"Uh, are you okay, Cinder?" Reese asked, almost concerned at the woman so highly regarded by Emerald. A part of her also felt concerned because this woman was supposedly her new partner, yet she almost fell over because of a tree…

"W-Who would put that tree there?" She grumbled as she hissed, touching the back of her head.

"Cinder, I thought you knew that trees grow on their own-"

"Zip it, Mercury, you know I knew that!"

"…Yeah," the boy nodded hopefully.

Coughing, the ashen-haired woman picked herself and took a deep breath. "Anyways," she spoke as if nothing odd happened, "let us go find this relic the headmaster told us to acquire. I think there are some ruins not too far from here."

Despite Reese's inclusion in the group, not much had changed. While Emerald knew her the most out of the three, Mercury and Cinder themselves were quite acquainted with her. The former often chatted about games or any sports news that were interesting, yet not mainstream, while the latter just enjoyed talking with Reese in general.

As general as her topics were, Cinder just had so many things to talk about- and a whole lot of them centered around herself. It wasn't a wonder one of the heaviest impressions Cinder gave Reese was when she genuinely asked, "Do you like ketchup in your hamburgers?" No one ever asked Reese that aside from the fiery woman herself.

Eyes brightening at the sight of a set of old ruins revealing themselves, Cinder pointed forward as she began running. "There it is!" She exclaimed joyfully. "Hah! That Ruby doesn't know what she's talking about. Of _course_ I'm good with directions!"

_**That's**__ the reason she was so motivated this whole time?_ Emerald gaped at Cinder as her boss almost laughed out loud, though she ended up letting out a small giggle instead.

The ruins weren't impressive for Emerald and Mercury. They were old structures and contained some random fetch quest items their headmaster assigned them to bring. End of story. But Cinder seemed to feel her ego ignite at the sight of the relics.

That didn't mean she was blind, though. Briefly freezing, Cinder slammed a foot against the ground, propelling herself backward as a large pincer crashed into where she once was.

Somersaulting next to the other three, Cinder huffed as they readied their weapons. Her gaze fell on Reese, who smacked her hoverboard before tossing it on the ground, leaping onto it stylishly.

"Aim for the pincer's limb," Emerald spoke, observing the Death Stalker's physical attributes. It didn't look too big, indicating its youth, and Cinder could most likely destroy the thing by just whacking it enough.

As she had yet to see Reese's current combat capabilities, however…

"Reese, anything new you could do with that hoverboard?" She asked, the girl in question turning to her with a smirk.

A quick shrug made its way to Emerald as Reese began heading towards the Death Stalker with Mercury. "Eh, I do," she admitted. "But I could do my old stuff even better."

"Waste it, then."

Saluting playfully at Emerald, Reese slammed the back of the hoverboard with her foot as she shot forward like an arrow. Behind her, Mercury twirled as he fired two Fire Dust rounds at the Deathstalker, each of them ejecting from his feet in spiral paths. The two Dust rounds soared past both of Reese's sides as they quickly made their mark, exploding on the hard shell of the Deathstalker.

With the Grimm winded from the momentary impact, Reese leaned backwards as her hoverboard suddenly made its way on top of the Grimm itself. Grabbing the tail, she spun twice, kickstarting the hoverboard's boost function before she proceeded to spin wildly. As she steadily moved up the tail, Reese eventually slammed her board right against the appendage connecting the pincer and the Deathstalker's tail.

A mighty blast erupted from the bottom of Reese's hoverboard as she propelled off the Grimm, instantly tearing apart the pincer from the tail. As it fell on top of the Deathstalker, penetrating its own head through its thick bone armor, Emerald ran up and slammed a foot on the pincer as she brought out her twin revolver sickles.

Relentlessly filling the Grimm with piercing Dust, Emerald only stopped firing when the Deathstalker ceased its movements.

Easy, but it could've gone faster.

As Reese hovered back to the group, she found Cinder pouting grumpily.

"Something wrong, Cinder?" Reese asked curiously, wondering if any of them did something wrong.

For a moment, Cinder remained silent, averting her gaze with crossed arms. As her personality dictated, however, she eventually glanced at them, probably _trying_ to look annoyed.

"You could've left some for me, you know…"

Mercury rolled his eyes with a smirk as he pat Cinder's back. She glared at him, though she refused to say anything. "It's alright, boss," he said meaningfully. "I'm pretty sure there're bigger ones than this."

Reese grinned. "Yeah! Cheer up, toughie. Let's go get those relics and bail out of here, yeah?"

Interestingly, Emerald felt the need to observe Cinder's reaction at that moment. She turned to Cinder, attempting to come up with a rough estimate of how quickly her face would change.

Much to her amazement, Cinder Fall was already beaming at their compliments with an impossibly happy smile. Coughing, she flipped her hair, accidentally slapping Mercury with it as she nodded.

"Well, then," she recovered. "The relics it is!"

* * *

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white Rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as **Team Juniper, **led by **Jaune Arc.**"

It didn't take long for the team arrangements to begin after Initiation.

An applause came from the crowd gathered in the auditorium, the letters "JNPR" clearly shown on the two large hologram screens. The official statements of teams formed for every first year directly after successful Initiations. There was no reason to boo fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses, though certainly not everyone applauded. But at that moment, an overwhelming majority gave the applause every student deserved.

That didn't stop some of the students from laughing when the red-haired girl playfully punched Jaune so hard he fell on his posterior.

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin smiled, standing before the four girls who waited eagerly. "The four of you retrieved the white Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as **Team Ruby**, led by **Ruby Rose.**"

At his words, Yang jumped in pure glee as she hugged her sister tightly. Weiss seemed utterly surprised at Ruby's position in the team, though she remained standing quietly. Blake, on the other hand, smiled at the two sisters' jovial surprise.

As the four got off the stage, Ozpin looked up as the final team got on the stage. Again, he smiled, though his gaze remained fixated on the girl who strutted forward for the team.

"And finally," he continued, "Emerald Sustrai, Reese Chloris, Mercury Black, and Cinder Fall."

While the three he mentioned first politely remained quiet with idle expressions, Cinder stared at Ozpin especially expectantly with a wide smile.

"The four of you retrieved the black Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as **Team ****Crème,** led by **Cinder Fall.**"

Smirking at the name of their team, Mercury nudged Emerald's elbow with his own as he whispered something to her. Rolling her eyes, she resorted to almost smacking his elbow in return, annoyed that he dodged it at the last moment. He couldn't stop laughing at whatever he told her.

Reese grinned as she whispered to Cinder,"Well, congrats, Cinder! Don't overwork us, ay? I like getting physical but I'm no robot."

Turning to Reese, Cinder gestured towards herself as she melodramatically answered, "It's fine, Reese. I only expect that you-"

Suddenly freezing, Cinder blinked as she steadily reached for her cheek. Plucking something off, she distanced it from her face to analyze it.

"…"

…

"B-B-B-B-B-BUG. IT'S. A BUG. **OH MY GOD**. REESE GET IT OFF MY HAND, PLEASE!"

"Wait, what-?"

"**DO IT.**"

As the cyan-haired girl panicked at the sudden request, Emerald and Mercury glanced at the two briefly. They could help. They knew well, but in the chance of pretending like they didn't exist for the sake of saving their own faces, the two took the chance together in perfect harmony. Some of the audience laughed at Cinder's apparent panic at the tiny bug in her fingers.

Ozpin, on the other hand, could only smile curiously at them.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year."


End file.
